" Make A Run For It " November 18, 2022

[femullen]

I was so happy to find "five k" that I sent it in and looked no further. I was a bit nervous later, though, reading others who wondered about a possible pageant. Could Matt have given us a meta with only one step? Didn't seem possible, so I was expecting to another palm-to-forehead Monday.

[Barney]

Money back guarantee that both 5k and half marathon are accepted.

[mangyplatypus]

I stand by my 20-K RELAY.

[MatthewL]

I went with 5K because, I will sheepishly admit, I never saw the additional K. If I had, that might (or might not) have influenced my response. However, I did see a comment on Crossword Fiend that I thought was clever -- each of the themers had a "run" of "five ks". Makes sense to me. Just waiting on the mug now.

[Sleepy]

Someday we’ll be commenting that we’ve been 5K-ed! Which would be worse than PAGEANTED I suppose. Lol

[Sleepy]

I submitted “5K” instead of “FIVE-K.” Any idea how WSJ will rule on that?

You’re screwed! Lol.

[EVJ]

From the beginning I wanted TURKEY TROT to be the answer since every city and town across the country has one this week. Many of them are 5K runs, but admittedly not all. The word NECK just kept me thinking about turkeys. Also, the first word in TACKY KNICK KNACK just looked a lot like TURKEY. I knew it probably wasn’t the right answer but I submitted it for fun. And felt that 5K, 20K, 21k, half marathon, marathon, and 4x5k relay had just about as many holes in the logic as TURKEY TROT.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

[billkatz]

Kind of curious - have the long-timers here ever seen another WSJ meta where the answer was basically in the grid four (or more) different times? I haven't been here THAT long, but don't remember seeing that particular technique before.

I'm not sure about WSJ, but I've definitely seen this in Matt's MGWCC week one puzzles - where the answer is repeated in each of the theme entries

[Kas]

Well, I submitted the Kankakee Marathon in Kankakee County, Illinois, insofar as a Marathon is 42.195 Kilometers, and yes, there are only 21 "k's" in the grid, but if you count both Across and Down answers, that's 42 total words that include K. The Kankakee Marathon address is 1815 E Court Street, Kankakee...which points to the fractional .195 Km's in a marathon, by noting that the middle digit (9), when doubled, is the first two digits of the E Court Street address (i.e., "18"), and that same middle digit is sandwiched between "1" and "5," which is, of course, the second two digits in the address...not to mention the BIG clue of Kankakee being RIGHT THERE at 44 across, I mean you couldn't possibly ask for a more obvious hint.



(I submitted 5K.)

[mheberlingx100]

Kind of curious - have the long-timers here ever seen another WSJ meta where the answer was basically in the grid four (or more) different times? I haven't been here THAT long, but don't remember seeing that particular technique before.

As we know, usually the idea is to COMBINE things across multiple answers/clues to get the AHA moment (like the 21K/HALFMARATHON/RELAY crowds did). I don't ever recall the meta being all contained in one answer - and REPEATED a few times across other answers.

The very first Crossword Contest had this feature. Answer was an automaker. Long answers were Vanna White, Viennese Waltz, etc.

Things were simpler back in my day …

[Bird Lives]

So will it be a Pageant or a New Mexico?
IMO, all the alternates are legit and have been brilliantly argued. Thus we should have two, three, many New Mexicos.

Besides, when FuminCuban says "5k is too easy," I assume he means "Is 5K even a race?" which is what I would have said back when I still had knee cartilage.

[Sleepy]

Seriously, putting the 21st K in 21A was just Gaffney being brilliant, sealing the correct answer as HALF MARATHON. Thus not having to have a number in the solution ie. “5K”.

[Onaquest]

Kind of curious - have the long-timers here ever seen another WSJ meta where the answer was basically in the grid four (or more) different times? I haven't been here THAT long, but don't remember seeing that particular technique before.

As we know, usually the idea is to COMBINE things across multiple answers/clues to get the AHA moment (like the 21K/HALFMARATHON/RELAY crowds did). I don't ever recall the meta being all contained in one answer - and REPEATED a few times across other answers.

I can’t answer your question (not an old timer) but what I can say was that on the Zoom call on Friday the ‘old timers’ seemed to almost universally favour 5k not half marathon as an answer. Being less experienced, I ignored them

[kurtalert]

Given how hard Gaffney probably had to work in order to find four separate 15 letter answers with exactly 5 Ks, and the fact that a 5K is a super popular race, that seemed like the obvious solution as opposed to going in any other direction. If he was going for 20K or 21K or something else, I don't think he would have had all 4 of the long answers have exactly five Ks- there probably would have been a clue with 4, one with 6, etc. I just hope they accept 5K as opposed to Five-K... I've *never* seen a 5K written as Five-K.

[minimuggle]

Finally guessed right. I submitted 5K. I have never seen it expressed as "Five-K".... and I have run many of them . Truly enjoyed the puzzle and the fun debate over the correct answer. I came close to submitting Turkey trot because those are 5k's and you sometimes run for a turkey, and there was that lone "k" in "neck" after all the 5k long themes. ... In my family we always ran for the turkey neck which was the first part of the turkey to be done. Happy Monday

[CPJohnson]

I am also in “Team Half Marathon” for the simple reason that you never see the term 5k spelled out as “five k.” Races are generally the numerical digit followed by whatever length is being measured (k or mi). While the 5k is the most common race distance that is run, the marathon and half marathon are the most common that are only known by their word title.

Oh well, I will begrudgingly take the L this week.

Concur. I don't know how many t-shirts I have collected that have "5 K" printed on them, never "Five-K". Why isn't 5 K the answer?

I'm hoping they will accept 5K or 5 K or 5-K as well as FIVE-K.

[CPJohnson]

Kind of curious - have the long-timers here ever seen another WSJ meta where the answer was basically in the grid four (or more) different times? I haven't been here THAT long, but don't remember seeing that particular technique before.

As we know, usually the idea is to COMBINE things across multiple answers/clues to get the AHA moment (like the 21K/HALFMARATHON/RELAY crowds did). I don't ever recall the meta being all contained in one answer - and REPEATED a few times across other answers.

Yes, I can think of at least one....I will go look for it.

[mydogsam]

Kind of curious - have the long-timers here ever seen another WSJ meta where the answer was basically in the grid four (or more) different times? I haven't been here THAT long, but don't remember seeing that particular technique before.

As we know, usually the idea is to COMBINE things across multiple answers/clues to get the AHA moment (like the 21K/HALFMARATHON/RELAY crowds did). I don't ever recall the meta being all contained in one answer - and REPEATED a few times across other answers.

I can’t answer your question (not an old timer) but what I can say was that on the Zoom call on Friday the ‘old timers’ seemed to almost universally favour 5k not half marathon as an answer. Being less experienced, I ignored them

That's funny! I heard that on the Zoom call on Sunday there was a strong case being made for Half-Marathon...

[Barney]

I am also in “Team Half Marathon” for the simple reason that you never see the term 5k spelled out as “five k.” Races are generally the numerical digit followed by whatever length is being measured (k or mi). While the 5k is the most common race distance that is run, the marathon and half marathon are the most common that are only known by their word title.

Oh well, I will begrudgingly take the L this week.

Concur. I don't know how many t-shirts I have collected that have "5 K" printed on them, never "Five-K". Why isn't 5 K the answer?

I'm hoping they will accept 5K or 5 K or 5-K as well as FIVE-K.

Doubtless. Also doubtless Matt is not a runner. Never heard it called Five-K. It’s a 5K.

[31 Down]

Wow - 22 pages. This thread has legs!

5K is a very common distance. Decided not to rack my brain and ran with it.